Down again: Leicester's relegation horror

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Image 1 of 4

Image 1 of 4

Image 1 of 4

By Telegraph Staff

2:19PM BST 05 May 2008

With their relegation from the Championship on Sunday, Leicester City joined the list of football "sinkers" - the nine other teams who have dropped two divisions after enjoying exalted Premier League status.

Having fallen from the top division in 2004, City are now in the third tier for the first time in their history. But recent experience shows that this demotion double whammy does not necessarily spell further doom...

Wimbledon, now MK Dons, were relegated from the Premiership after a defeat to Southampton in May 2000 (above left). They have been sent down twice more since, but this season ensured promotion back to League One after also winning the Trophy final under manager Paul Ince.

Leeds United were relegated from the Premiership in 2004 (above right), and then sent down to third-tier football in 2007 as the club threatened to implode. However, under Gary McAllister, and despite starting the season with a 15-point deduction, they now go into the League One play-offs as favourites for promotion.

Sheffield Wednesday were relegated from top-flight football in 2000 under the stewardship of Peter Shreeves (above left). They dropped to League One in May 2003, but have since climbed back to the Championship, where they survived on the final day of the season.

Barnsley were knocked out of the Premier League after a defeat to Leicester in May 1998 (above right). Two years on, they found themselves in League One, but were promoted back to the Championship in 2006. This season they celebrated arguably the club's finest achievement in beating Liverpool and Chelsea in a run to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Perhaps the ultimate "yo-yo club", Manchester City fell from the Premiership in 2000 (above left), and were down again within two seasons. They have rallied, however, and returned to the pinnacle of the game. They are currently in ninth place in the Premier League.

Ray Wilkins (above right), was reprimanded for taking his frustration out on a cameraman after being sent down with Queens Park Rangers to Division One in 1996 (above right). At the end of the 2000-01 season, QPR were relegated again to League One but came back up in the 2003-04 season. They should improve on their 14th-placed finish next season under new ownership.

Under Ron Atkinson (above left), Nottingham Forest were relegated from the Premiership, not for the first time, in 1999. They were then demoted to League One in 2005, but have just been guided back to the Championship by manager Colin Calderwood.

Bradford City were promoted to the Premier League in 1999, but were back in the second tier by 2001 despite the best efforts of captain Stuart McCall (above right). Plagued by financial problems, they have since sunk like a stone, and are currently enduring fourth-tier football in League Two, where this season they finished 10th.

Relegated from the Premier League in 1994, Oldham Athletic again faced the drop three years later and were unable to bounce back into the second tier of English football the following year under Neil Warnock who responded by resigning in 1998. Financial struggles ensued and while the club survived it has been unable to gain promotion from League One despite qualifying for the play-offs twice in recent years. This season, Oldham finished on 67 points, good for eighth in the division.